Date/Time: Now through December 2

Location(s):

Gifts can also be shipped to our San Francisco location, JFCS Toy Drive, 2150 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94115. Please make a note on the toy that it is for the toy drive. We will wrap and distribute toys by Hanukkah to families who need them most.

Ages: All ages can participate

Time Commitment: Varies

Help make the holidays bright for low-income families and those families still recovering from the pandemic.

Jewish Family and Children’s Services is hosting a holiday toy drive to benefit families throughout the Bay Area. This is a great way to involve your children in helping others during the holidays!

You can also purchase items from our Amazon Wish List.

Contact: Irina Klay, [email protected]

Date/Time: Tuesday - Thursday, between 9:30am - 4:30pm

Location: Pick up grocery bags from our San Francisco office and deliver to our clients' homes

Ages: Parents are welcome to bring children of all ages with them

Time Commitment: Two-hour weekly commitment

Contact: [email protected], 415.449.3849. Click here to complete a JFCS volunteer application.

Date/Time: Sunday, December 5, 10am PT, 12 pm CT, 1 pm ET

Location: Online

Ages: All ages! We welcome you to attend as a family!

Time Commitment: Two-hour program

Learn more here.

Contact: [email protected]. Registration is available online.

Date/Time: Sunday, December 5, 9 – 11am

Location: lmaden Quicksilver County Park, 19535 Mockingbird Hill Lane, Mockingbird Hill Ln entrance, San Jose

Ages: Everyone can participate

Time Commitment: Two hours

Located in the southern part of San Jose, the park we will be at is a safe haven for many species of plants and animals right along Coyote Creek. Join Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful, Grassroots Ecology, and BioBlitz.club in cataloging and documenting all of the living things that reside there. We will have experts in various fields to help guide participants through all the cool plants and wildlife. All you need to participate is a smart phone with the iNaturalist app! Come with your family and prepare for an in-depth tour of this great park. Participants are expected to follow current County requirements. Since this event has a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, wearing a mask and keeping 6ft social distance when possible is required. We will not provide masks. Also if you feel ill on the day of the event, you agree that you will not attend. Community service hours are available.

Contact: Registration is available online via Eventbrite.

Date/Time: Saturday, December 11, 9am - noon

Location: Santa Teresa Blvd and Cheltenham Pl, Santa Teresa Blvd, San Jose. This planting will take place on the south side of Santa Teresa Blvd beginning at the Cheltenham Pl intersection. Parking is available in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Ages: Volunteers 12 and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. All volunteers are required to submit a Volunteer Waiver & Release Form and a Vaccination Status Form. If you are under the age of 18, you must have parent or guardian consent to volunteer.

Time Commitment: Three hours

Help plant trees in San Jose and surrounding areas; learn how to properly plant a tree to ensure the best chance for a healthy life. Since 1994 Our City Forest has been cultivating a green and healthy Silicon Valley. We believe in the power of TREES and the power of PEOPLE to make our community educated and our urban forest accessible to all. What to bring to volunteer:

Contact: [email protected]. Registration is available online via Eventbrite.

Date/Time: Ongoing need

Location: Online

Ages: Everyone can help

Time Commitment: Minimal

Our mission is to provide free Night Night Packages to homeless children from birth to pre-teen who need our childhood essentials to have a concrete and predictable source of security and increased exposure to high-quality literacy materials during this time of upheaval. Each Night Night Package contains a new security blanket, an age-appropriate children’s book, and a stuffed animal — all nestled inside of a new canvas tote bag. For each $25 donation on our website, Project Night Night can place a Night Night Package into the arms of a homeless child. You can also make a tribute gift to sponsor the Night Night Package in the name of someone else, so it is the perfect holiday gift.

Contact: https://www.projectnightnight.org/donate-money/

Location: Family Giving Tree

606 Valley Way, Milpitas, CA 95035

Ages: Everyone can help

Time Commitment: Varies

Since 1990, the Family Giving Tree has provided gifts for over one million San Francisco Bay Area children, families, and seniors from low-income households. We believe that everyone should experience the joy of the holidays through the receipt of a gift, and more than half of these gifts have fulfilled exact holiday gift wishes. In 2019, more than 82,000 gifts – and smiles – were delivered through 400+ agencies. Here are two ways your family can help with our Holiday Wish Drive:

Drive Leaders collect gifts on Family Giving Tree’s behalf. Anyone who is part of a group—a business, school, family, social club, or friends—and wants to help their community can lead a Holiday Wish Drive. All Drive Leaders receive FGT support and all the tools needed to make their Drive a success. Learn more here: https://familygivingtree.org/holiday/lead-a-drive

The Virtual Giving Tree (VGT) allows you to fulfill a wish online. To fulfill the wish of a child, adult, or senior in need may not seem like much, but for someone who may not otherwise receive a gift, it’s everything. That single, specially chosen gift lets them know that someone in the community cares. Through our Virtual Giving Tree (VGT) donation platform you can grant a wish and help spread comfort and joy in the community. Click here to Grant a Wish: https://vtree.fgt.org/fgt/

Contact: [email protected]

Date/Time: Flexible

Location: Click here for a list of drop off locations in the Silicon Valley area

Ages: Everyone can help

Time Commitment: Varies

One Warm Coat is the only national non-profit organization focused on coat drives. One Warm Coat supports individuals, groups, companies and organizations across the country by providing the tools and resources needed to hold a successful coat drive. Coats are distributed in the communities where they are collected, to children and adults in need, without charge, discrimination or obligation. Your family can help by holding a Warm Coat Drive or a Virtual Coat Drive. Click here for an online guide for holding your coat drive!

Contact: [email protected] or call 877.663.9276

Date/Time(s): Most clean-ups are on Saturday mornings, 9 -11am. Check monthly calendar for specific dates and times.

Location(s): Check monthly calendar for locations

Ages: Families with children of all ages are welcome. All children under the age of 14 should be supervised by an adult or guardian at all times.

Time Commitment: Two hours

The Pacific Beach Coalition is dedicated to preserving the ocean, coastal habitat and wildlife, and ending litter, through advocacy, education, community building, and citizen action. Volunteers are needed to help with monthly beach clean ups and habitat restoration projects. Click here for cleanup guidelines and frequently asked questions. We recommend that everyone wear masks to participate to help protect the children who are volunteering.

Contact: Project registration is available online. All volunteers are encouraged to pre-register by completing and submitting our Online Volunteer Registration Form. For logistical purposes, we notify our site captains in advance of the number of volunteers to expect for a cleanup. Pre-registration also allows you to complete and submit in advance our waiver form required of all volunteers to participate.

Date/Time: Sunday, December 19, 10:05am – 5:05pm

There will be two volunteer shifts for the event:

Location: Red Lot 1, Levi's Stadium, Tasman Drive, Santa Clara

Ages: Families with children eight and older are welcome to participate. Volunteers age 13-18 may participate on their own with a signed waiver. If you will be volunteering with children, the expectation is that they will not need to be supervised the entire time. You will be working together but must be able to leave them unattended at times. If you are unsure if this is an age appropriate volunteer activity for your child, please do not hesitate to contact the Community Programs Coordinator.

Time Commitment: 3.5 hours for one shift, or 7 hours for both shifts

The purpose of SVBC is to create a healthy community, environment, and economy through bicycling for people who live, work, or play in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. Valet bike parking is one of many ways that Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition encourages people to bike to public events. Levi's Stadium provides two fenced-off, open-air bike corrals in their parking lot, where SVBC volunteers supervise bikes during events. This volunteering involves equipment set up or breakdown, intake and registration of bikes, storing and securing the bicycles, keeping a watchful eye during the event, and happily returning them to attendees after the event. This leaves ample time for you to talk to members of the community and learn about the vast variety of bicycles people ride around town! A warm meal will be provided for volunteers.

Contact: Eleni Jacobson, Community Programs Coordinator, [email protected]

Date/Time: Check registration calendar for available shifts.

Location: 1297 North 13th Street, San Jose

Ages: Families with children 10 and older are welcome to volunteer together. Both parent & child need to be registered individually. Families with children age 14 and older are also welcome to volunteer in our kitchen.

Time Commitment: Two hours

Volunteers are needed to help in our warehouse in many different ways. Our needs change daily. We appreciate your flexibility with the variety of tasks you might be asked to help with. Volunteer tasks may include:

Donation Sorting: organize and sort the incoming clothing and small household items

Food Packing: preparing food boxes for distribution

Hygiene kits: preparing hygiene kits for distribution

Kitchen volunteers prepare vegetables and fruits in our kitchen, and serve meals to our homeless community.

Contact: Ginou Do, [email protected]. Registration is available online.